PINEDALE — The Pinedale Anticline Project Office (PAPO) is accepting applications for potential 2015 project funding with preference given to those that specifically benefit mule deer, sage-grouse or air quality and are located within the Pinedale Anticline Project Area.
The 2015 application form, score sheet and guidelines are available at www.wy.blm.gov/jio-papo/index.htm. Submitted applications will be acknowledged and all will be reviewed by PAPO staff. Final funding decisions will likely be made by the PAPO Board of Directors at its May 2015 meeting in Pinedale, Wyoming. There is no guarantee that any submitted application will be funded.
Project applications and any supporting documents must be submitted by email to [email protected] by 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31.
About the Pinedale Anticline
The Pinedale Anticline Natural Gas Field is located in the Upper Green River Basin of west-central Wyoming, south of Pinedale. The Anticline’s 198,000 acres of rolling sagebrush are 80 percent federally owned. The area has one of the richest concentrations of natural gas in the United States, currently estimated at more than 25 trillion cubic feet.
The Pinedale Anticline Project Office (PAPO) was created by the Anticline Project Record of Decision (SEIS ROD) to provide overall management of on-site monitoring and off-site mitigation activities. The PAPO obtains, collects, stores and distributes monitoring information to support the adaptive management process and analyzes mitigation projects primarily focusing on mule deer, pronghorn and Greater sage-grouse.
The SEIS ROD established a Monitoring and Mitigation Fund to mitigate potential impacts to wildlife, air and other resources in the area, including cultural resources. Ultra, Shell, and Questar contribute $7,500 to the Monitoring and Mitigation Fund for each well spudded in the Anticline, with a total contribution of $36 million during the life of the project.
The Pinedale Field Office cultural resources staff is composed of three permanent positions. Duties of these individuals include all aspects of the cultural resources program, including survey, recordation, evaluation and management of BLM’s archaeological resources, historic period resources, Native American consultation, paleontological resources, public education efforts, cultural resource database management and curation of federally owned heritage resource assets. The cultural resources staff ensures BLM’s compliance with federally mandated laws and regulations such as the National Historic Preservation Act, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and other laws, regulations and policy.
